One of the ideas I came up with at #DiabetesLinkup was to change the current standard of care by physicians (okay, I didn't write it that stiffly, but the same idea).
Now I doubt I came up with this out of the blue, out of the whole buzz of the #DOC and the online medical community itself, I've been concerned about one case of pediatric death from diabetes, and I've supported this:
http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/legislating-change-undiagnosed-diabetes
But one small change could change the face of diabetes.
Here's what I mean.
Currently when we go to a doctor's office, they get our weight and our blood pressure. Why not add blood sugar? And in fact, I know an optometrist that actually does do the blood sugar test, since blurry vision is a symptom of diabetes. Now that I am diagnosed, they ask for my A1C.
Here's the deal, for the most part, blood pressure is tracked on a regular basis. We are not life style shamed if our blood pressure is high (though they might mention the link to sodium intake), and there is no blaming the patient if a blood pressure drug doesn't work.
If tracking blood sugar (along with how long has it been since the patient has eaten), maybe the stigma can be taken away from diabetes?
It might also start catching some of the lack of diagnosis and misdiagnosis.
One other really important thing — while diabetes is often considered a life style disease, is it really? Could I pick my parents and can I change how they raised me?
By adding body shaming or life style shaming, we make it much harder to change.